Hungarian far right calls for zero tolerance against Roma

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Hungarian far right calls for zero tolerance against Roma, 26 August 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/503f1cd2c.html [accessed 31 March 2015]

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August 26, 2012

In Hungary, the far-right Jobbik party has called for zero tolerance against what it called crime and parasitism by the Roma.

Addressing hundreds of supporters in Budapest on August 25, Jobbik party leader Gabor Vona said any member of the large minority who did not conform should leave the country.

The government had condemned the rally.

Tensions between the 500,000 to 700,000 impoverished Roma and other Hungarians in the country of 10 million have risen at a time when Hungary is mired in its second recession in four years and unemployment is stuck in double figures.

The Roma minority in Hungary suffers from frequent discrimination in the labor market.